MR. AYLMORE IS QUESTIONED

It to Spargo as he sat to the at the next day that the whole of what was now world-famous as the Middle Temple Murder Case was being him for the thousandth time. There was not a detail of the with which he had not familiar to fulness. The the had been of a nature; these were and exhaustive; the of the Crown and twelve good men and true of the City of London were there to and to out and to arrive at a as to how the man as John Marbury came by his death. And although he all about it, Spargo himself the in a professional manner, and how each contributed, as it were, a chapter to the story. The itself ran easily, naturally, consecutively—you make it in sections. And Spargo, to listen, them:

1. The Temple and Constable Driscoll proved the of the body.

2. The police as to the of death—the man had been from by a blow, a terrible blow—from some instrument, and had died immediately.

3. The police and the officials proved that when the was nothing was in the but the now famous of paper.

4. Rathbury proved that by means of the man's new cloth cap, at Fiskie's well-known shop in the West-End, he Marbury to the Anglo-Orient Hotel in the Waterloo District.

5. Mr. and Mrs. Walters gave of the of Marbury at the Anglo-Orient Hotel, and of his doings while he was in and about there.

6. The of the ss. Wambarino proved that Marbury from Melbourne to Southampton on that ship, no remark, himself like any other well-regulated passenger, and left the Wambarino at Southampton early in the of what was to be the last day of his life in just the ordinary manner.

7. Mr. Criedir gave of his with Marbury in the of the stamps.

8. Mr. Myerst told of Marbury's visit to the Safe Deposit, and proved that the box which he there proved, on official examination, to be empty.

9. William Webster re-told the of his with Marbury in one of the of the House of Commons, and of his the meeting him and the he (Webster) now to be Mr. Aylmore, a Member of Parliament.

All this up to the of Mr. Aylmore, M.P., in the witness-box. And Spargo and that it was that for which the was waiting. Thanks to his own and in the Watchman, there had already well and with the of by the nine who had been in the box Mr. Aylmore entered it. They were familiar, too, with the which Mr. Aylmore had permitted Spargo to print after the at the club, which Ronald Breton arranged. Why, then, the which the Member of Parliament's aroused? For was interested; from the Coroner to the last man who had managed to himself into the last available of the public gallery, all who were there wanted to and see the man who met Marbury under such circumstances, and who to his hotel with him, with him, gave him advice, walked out of the hotel with him for a from which Marbury returned. Spargo well why the was so keen—everybody that Aylmore was the only man who tell the anything about Marbury; who he was, what he was after; what his life had been.

He looked the as the Member of Parliament entered the witness-box—a tall, handsome, perfectly-groomed man, was only with grey, was as as a well-drilled soldier's, who about him an air of power. Aylmore's two sat at a little away, opposite Spargo, with Ronald Breton in upon them; Spargo had their as they entered the court, and they had him a and smile. He had them from time to time; it was plain to him that they the whole as a of entertainment; they might have been in some Eastern bazaar, to the of many from the professional tale-tellers. Now, as their father entered the box, Spargo looked at them again; he saw nothing more than a little of colour in their cheeks, a little of their eyes.

"All that they feel," he thought, "is a of at the idea that their father is mixed up in this mystery. Um! Well—now how much is he mixed up?"

And he to the witness-box and from that moment took his off the man who now in it. For Spargo had ideas about the which he was to develop.

The who something in Mr. Aylmore's were disappointed. Aylmore, having been sworn, and asked a question or two by the Coroner, permission to tell, in his own way, what he of the man and of this sad affair; and having that permission, he on in a calm, manner to repeat what he had told Spargo. It a very plain, ordinary story. He had Marbury many years ago. He had of him for—oh, twenty years. He had met him in one of the of the House of Commons on the the murder. Marbury had asked his advice. Having no particular duty, and to do an old a good turn, he had gone to the Anglo-Orient Hotel with Marbury, had with him in his room, his Australian diamonds, and had gone out with him. He had him the he wanted; they had across Waterloo Bridge; they had parted. That was all he knew.

The court, the public, Spargo, there, all this already. It had been in print, under a big headline, in the Watchman. Aylmore had now told it again; having told it, he to that his next step was to the box and the court, and after a question or two from the Coroner and the of the he a motion as if to step down. But Spargo, who had been aware since the of the of the presence of a who the Treasury, his in that gentleman's direction, and was not to see him in his well-known, fashion, his in his right eye, and at the tall in the witness-box.

"The fun is going to begin," Spargo.

The Treasury looked from Aylmore to the Coroner and a bow; from the Coroner to Aylmore and himself. He looked like a man who is going to ask questions about the of the weather, or how Smith's wife was last time you of her, or if stocks are likely to or fall. But Spargo had this man before, and he many of his in voice and manner and glance.

"I want to ask you a questions, Mr. Aylmore, about your with the man. It was an of some time ago?" the suave, careless voice.

"A time ago," answered Aylmore.

"How long—roughly speaking?"

"I should say from twenty to twenty-two or three years."

"Never saw him that time until you met in the way you have to us?"

"Never."

"Ever from him?"

"No."

"Ever of him?"

"No."

"But when you met, you each other at once?"

"Well—almost at once."

"Almost at once. Then, I take it, you were very well to each other twenty or twenty-two years ago?"

"We were—yes, well to each other."

"Close friends?"

"I said we were acquaintances."

"Acquaintances. What was his name when you him at that time?"

"His name? It was—Marbury."

"Marbury—the same name. Where did you know him?"

"I—oh, here in London."

"What was he?"

"Do you mean—what was his occupation?"

"What was his occupation?"

"I he was in financial matters."

"Concerned in financial matters. Had you with him?"

"Well, yes—on occasions."

"What was his address in London?"

"I can't that."

"What was his private address?"

"That I knew."

"Where did you your with him?"

"Well, we met, now and then."

"Where? What place, office, resort?"

"I can't particular places. Sometimes—in the City."

"In the City. Where in the City? Mansion House, or Lombard Street, or

St. Paul's Churchyard, or the Old Bailey, or where?"

"I have of meeting him the Stock Exchange."

"Oh! Was he a of that institution?"

"Not that I know of."

"Were you?"

"Certainly not!"

"What were the that you had with him?"

"Financial dealings—small ones."

"How long did your with him last—what period did it over?"

"I should say about six months to nine months."

"No more?"

"Certainly no more."

"It was a acquaintanceship, then?"

"Oh, quite!"

"And yet, after of this for over twenty years, you, on meeting him, take great in him?"

"Well, I was to do him a good turn, I was in what he told me the other evening."

"I see. Now you will not object to my you a personal question or two. You are a public man, and the about the of public men are more or less public property. You are in this work of popular as to this country in 1902, from Argentina, where you a fortune. You have told us, however, that you were in London, with Marbury, about the years, say 1890 to 1892. Did you then England soon after Marbury?"

"I did. I left England in 1891 or 1892—I am not sure which."

"We are wanting to be very sure about this matter, Mr. Aylmore. We want to solve the question—who is, who was John Marbury, and how did he come by his death? You to be the only available person who anything about him. What was your you left England?"

"I was in financial affairs."